Loutrochori(on) () meaning "bath town"; formerly ''Paina'', Πάινα and ''Bania'', Μπάνια meaning "baths")''Pandektis: Name Changes of Settlements in Greece''
Retrieved on 30 November 2016, compiled by th

/ref> is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the Pella regional unit, of

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Previously part of the community of Petraia, it became a separate community in 2020. According to the 2021 census, it has a population of 399. The village is on a hill and thus it has a view of the surrounding countryside. Loutrochori is situated north of the

A2 motorway A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''English alphabet#Letter names, a'' (pronounced ), plural ...

(Egnatia Odos, or A2, the Greek part of the E90) and south of the

EO2 EO2 was a Cantopop dance group in Hong Kong. The name comes from its 4 members with 2 beginning with "E", and 2 beginning with "O". The members are Eric Tse (謝凱榮), Eddie Pang (彭懷安), Osman Hung (洪智傑) and Otto Wong (王志安). ...

(or E 86). The nearest railroad (train) stations, on the OSE's

Thessaloniki–Bitola railway The railway from Thessaloniki to Bitola is a long railway line, that connects the port city Thessaloniki in Greece with Bitola in the Republic of North Macedonia, via Veroia, Edessa, Amyntaio and Florina. The line was opened in 1894 under the na ...

, are east ( Petraia), southeast ( Episkopi) and northeast (

Skydra Skydra (, in modern Greek, before 1926: Βερτεκόπ - ''Vertekop'', Slavic: Вртикоп, ''Vrtikop'') is a municipality in the Pella regional unit of Macedonia in Greece. Municipality The municipality Skydra was formed at the 2011 loca ...

). The Loutrochori area was famous from ancient times for its spa. The spa (''iamatica loutra'', ιαματικά λουτρά) of Loutrochori (spa-drinking therapy)Ιαματική Πηγή Λουτροχωρίου (Δήμος Σκύδρας), History and Information about the baths of Loutrochori
is situated just away near the local mountain of Canber ().

History

Ancient era

The Loutrochori area has been a

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

from the 4th century BC under the

Macedonian Kingdom Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an Classical antiquity, ancient monarchy, kingdom on the periphery of Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The History of ...

Modern era

Modern Loutrochori is a relatively new village; it was founded in the 1920s by the first

Greek refugees Greek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the more than one million Greek Orthodox natives of Asia Minor, Thrace and the Black Sea areas who fled during the Greek genocide (1914-1923) and Greece's later defeat in the Greco-Turkish W ...

from

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

, under the name "Μπάνια" (''Bania''). After the

Greek Genocide The Greek genocide (), which included the Pontic genocide, was the systematic killing of the Christian Ottoman Greek population of Anatolia, which was carried out mainly during World War I and its aftermath (1914–1922) – including the T ...

and the

Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) There have been several Greco-Turkish Wars: * Orlov revolt (1770) Greeks' first major, organized Revolt against the Ottoman Empire with the support of Russia *Greek War of Independence (1821–1830), against the Ottoman Empire * First Greco-Turkish ...

, a large number of

Pontic Greek Pontic Greek (, ; or ''Romeika'') is a variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, and the Eastern Turkish and Caucasus region. An endangered Greek language variety ...

refugees arrived at the village as a result of the

population exchange Population transfer or resettlement is a type of mass migration that is often imposed by a state policy or international authority. Such mass migrations are most frequently spurred on the basis of ethnicity or religion, but they also occur d ...

under the

Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (, ) is a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–1923 and signed in the Palais de Rumine in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially resolved the conflict that had initially ...

. In 1926, the village's name was changed to "Λουτροχώρι" (Loutrochori).

Demographics

The village's population grew rapidly after 1923. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels decl ...

, the population steadily declined as residents moved to larger towns and cities or emigrated. The inhabitants are (100%) ethnic

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

and

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

Geography

Loutrochori is the southwestern part of the municipality of

. It is southeast of the regional unit capital of

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

in Central part of

. Loutrochori is bounded by the

Imathia Imathia ( ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Central Macedonia, within the geographic regions of Greece, geographic region of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia. The capital of Imathia is the ...

to the southwest and it is northwest of the Imathian capital

Veria Veria (; ), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Beroea or Berea, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of Imathia. It is located north-nor ...

. It sits at an elevation of around

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

and the population is approximately from 500 (in winter) to 800 (in summer) inhabitants. Loutrochori covers an area of some , between the mountains Vermio () to the southwest,

Voras The Voras Mountains (; also Boras), also known as Nidže (, ) are a mountain range situated on the border between Greece and North Macedonia. It separates the Pella (regional unit), Pella regional unit on the Greek side in the south from the Mar ...

() to the northwest and Paiko () to the northeast. Loutrochori is located at a distance of northwest of the present day Greek capital -

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

by road, north of the royal capital of ancient

Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...

Vergina Vergina (, ) is a small town in Northern Greece, part of the Veria municipality in Imathia, Central Macedonia. Vergina was established in 1922 in the aftermath of the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey, population exchanges after t ...

, west of the first capital of the Greek Macedonian Kingdom and birthplace of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

Pella Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella ...

and northwest of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, the present-day capital of

Greek Macedonia Macedonia ( ; , ) is a geographic and former administrative region of Greece, in the southern Balkans. Macedonia is the largest and geographic region in Greece, with a population of 2.36 million (as of 2020). It is highly mountainous, wit ...

Locations and distance

Nearest places

Big cities

Climate

The average

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

is 14.8

degrees Celsius The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius temperature scale "Celsius temperature scale, also called centigrade temperature scale, scale based on 0 ° for the melting point of water and 100 ° for the boiling point ...

and the average rainfall about 470 millimetres per year. Loutrochori has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. The warmest month is August, with . Record high temperatures of up to . The coolest month is January, averaging .

Economy

Loutrochori produces

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

s, some

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated f ...

and

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

es.

Gallery

Churches and Chapels in Loutrochori

File:Agii Pantes Loutrochori.jpg, Agii Pantes (

All Saints All Saints' Day is a Christian holiday. All Saints, All Saints Day or Feast of All Saints may also refer to: Art and entertainment * ''All Saints'' (film), a 2017 Christian drama film * ''All Saints'' (TV series), an Australian hospital drama * ...

) Greek Orthodox Church in Loutrochori. File:Agios Georgios Loutrochori.jpg, Ruins of Agios Georgios (

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

) Greek (Byzantine) Orthodox country Church in Loutrochori. File:Analipsi Loutrochori.jpg, Analipseos Tou Kiriou (

Ascension of Jesus The Ascension of Jesus (anglicized from the Vulgate ) is the Christianity, Christian and Islamic belief that Jesus entering heaven alive, ascended to Heaven. Christian doctrine, as reflected in the major Christian creeds and confessional stateme ...

) Greek Orthodox chapel in Loutrochori. File:Profitis Ilias Loutrochori.jpg, Profitis Ilias (

Prophet Elias Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worship ...

) Greek Orthodox Church in Loutrochori.

References

External links

Loutrochórion (Pélla, Macedonia, Greece)

Map of Central Macedonia. - Loutrochori NW (20)

A blog about Loutrochori

Primary school of Loutrochori

Kindergarten of Loutrochori

Loutrochori (epigraphy, Delacoulonche 242,24)
{{Skydra div Populated places in Pella (regional unit) Skydra Spa towns in Greece